Polishing apparatus



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Nov. 14, 1967 A. H. EPPLER 3,352,063

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AT'TO reflesvS United States Patent 3,352,063 POLISHING APPARATUS Arthur H. Eppler, 2518 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. 53203 Filed June 10, 1965, Ser. No. 462,948

10 Claims. (Cl. 518) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE A wet sand blast machine has its treating chamber enclosed by a housing divided diagonally and provided with ways upon which the upper portion of the housing slides rearwardly and upwardly to expose the work support fully, thereby facilitating vertical insertion and easy manipulation of bulky work. Beneath a foraminous and rotatable work supporting table is a sump contoured to provide a spherical bottom cooperating with a recirculatory system to keep suspended abrasive from settling out of the carrier liquid. Necessary air circulation in the treating chamber includes means for maintaining partial vacuum in said chamber to reduce the load on the filter which prevents the escape of abrasive with the circulating air.

This invention relates to polishing apparatus and, more particularly, to polishing apparatus of the type in which a liquid containing suspended abrasive is projected into contact with 'work to be polished.

Other advantages will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away and in section, of a polishing apparatus embodying various of the features of the invention and including a closure shown in open position;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the closure in a closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view, with parts removed and in section, of the polishing apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the back side of the polishing apparatus shown in FIGURE 1, with parts removed and in section;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the polishing apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a sectionalview taken along line 77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional View taken along line 8-8 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along line 99 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken along line 1010 of FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken along line 1111 of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, the polishing apparatus of the invention is broadly identified by the numeral 10. The polishing apparatus 10 includes a stand 12 supporting a housing 14, which housing forms a work receiving or treating chamber 16. The housing 14 includes an opening 18 disposed along an inclined plane. The margins of the opening are formed with tracks or guideways 20.

A closure or hood 22 is slidably carried on the housing 14 and is selectively movable between a position covering the opening 18 and an open position spaced from the opening 18. Rotatably carried on the hood are rollers 24 engaged with the guideways 20. The housing 14 also includes inclined extensions 30 also formed with the guideways 20. To assist in moving and positioning the hood,

counterweights 32 (shown best in FIGURES 3 and 4) are connected to the hood 22 by a conventional rope and pulley arrangement broadly identified by the numeral 34. Connterweights 32 vertically move in a hollow leg 36 of the stand 12.

The hood 22 includes an observation window 38 and arm holes 40 whereby an operator can manipulate a nozzle'50 by placing his arms in the arm holes 40 and viewing the work, at the same time, through the observation window 38. Connected to the arm holes 40 on the inside of the hood 22 are protective covers 52 (see FIG- URE 3) to protect the arms of the operator. The hood 22 also includes lights 54. Conventional washing means 154 are provided for washing the observation window 38 and the protective glass 55 of the lights 54.

When the hood 22 is in the uncovering or open position (shown in FIGURE 1 and in broken lines in FIGURE 3), the liquid and abrasive suspension, which accumulates on the inside of the cover 22 during use, falls onto a drip pan 56 carried between the extensions 30 of the housing 14. The drip pan 56 directs the drippings into the treating chamber 16. When the hood 22 is in the closed position, as shown in FIGURE 2, a forward rubber gasket 60 provides a seal between the hood 22 and the housing 14, and a rearward rubber gasket 62 (as shown best in FIGURE 3) provides a seal between the cover and the drip pan 56. The closure or hood 22 is dimensioned to upwardly deepen thereby increasing the effective volume of the treating chamber 16.

Journaled on the housing 14 by a suitable bearing 70 (shown in FIGURE 3) is a foraminous work table 72 which is generally of circular configuration. Corner segments 74, generally coplanar with the table 72 are provided to fill the space between the table 72 and the corners of the rectangular housing 14. A slot 76 is provided in the side of the housing 14 to receive a rubber roller '78 which engages the edge of the work table 72. A shield 77 encloses the rubber roller 78 and generally covers the slot 76. The rubber roller 78 is fixed on the output shaft 79 of a suitable motor 80 to afford continuous or intermittent rotation of the work table 72, as desired.

Disposed below the work table 72 is a hopper or sump 82 for collecting the liquid and abrasive suspension which drains through the foraminous work table 72 during use. The sump 82 includes a spherical bottom portion 84 and side portions 86 and 88 which provide a smooth transition between the rectangular housing 14 and the spherical bottom portion 84. The housing 14 also includes inclined members 90 and 91 on which the sump 82 is mounted. As shown in FIGURES 9, 10 and 11, the sump 82 is of a cross sectional configuration which generally decreases in size toward the bottom portion 84.

The polishing apparatus 10 is provided with a recirculating system which includes, in addition to the sump 82, a pump (shown in FIGURES 3 and 4) having an inlet conduit 102 including a filter 184 which is centrally disposed in the sump 82 generally above the bottom portion 84. The pump 100 delivers, through a discharge conduit 105, the liquid containing suspended abrasive or emulsion supply contained in the sump 82 to the nozzle 50 through the stand pipe 106 and hose 108 (see FIGURES 1 and 6). As shown bestin FIGURE 8, the pump 1% also delivers a portion of the emulsion supply to a recirculating pipe 110 by means of a T 112 which affords separation or division of emulsion flow from the discharge conduit between the recirculating pipe generally terminates above the bottom portion 84 of the sump 82. The recirculated liquid and abrasive suspension is directed by the recirculating pipe 110 along a path including the side portion 88 and the bottom portion 84. The stream of emulsion flowing from the recirculating pipe 110 generally follows the contour of the sump 82 and affords a circulatory agitation of the entire mass of emulsion contained in the sump to thereby prevent the abra sive from settling out of suspension in the liquid. Also, since the sump 82 has no abrupt surface transitions, such as corners, the liquid-abrasive suspension is not caused to sharply change direction whereby the heavier abrasive particles can be forced out of suspension in the liquid to thereby accumulate at the point of abrupt transition, such as a corner.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the nozzle 50 is also connected through an air hose 120 and stand pipe 122. to a suitable air supply (not shown). The nozzle operates in a conventional manner whereby the pressurized air serves as a carrier to project the liquid and abrasive suspension at a high velocity into the work to be polished. An operator manually directs the projected liquid containing suspended abrasive, by means of the nozzle 50, at the work to be polished.

The polishing apparatus is provided with a ventilating system to exhaust any abrasive or liquid carrying abrasive which may be contained in the atmosphere of the treating chamber 16. The housing 14 is provided with an air inlet formed by a gap 126 between the guideways 2G and the housing 14, as shown in FIGURE 5. The hood 22 is formed with a perpendicular portion 128 disposed beneath the guideways 22 whereby the intake air entering the inlet or gap 126 will strike the portions 128 and be directed thereby generally along the sides of the housing 14. The housing 14 also includes an outlet 130 (see FIGURES 3 and 4) formed in a corner of the housing 14. The outlet 130 communicates with a suitable fan and filter arrangement, such as fan 134 and filter 136, whereby the fan 134 draws air through the inlet opening 126 and out the outlet 130, through the filter 136 and out the discharge 138 of the fan.

A baffle 14% (shown in FIGURES 3 and 6), which is rectangular and, at least, generally co-extensive with and preferably larger than, the opening 130, is provided to deflect exhaust air around the edges of the baffie 140. The baffle 140 is fixed to the housing 14 along one edge 142 (shown in FIGURE 7) whereby exhaust air is deflected around the free edges of the bafiie 140.

The air inlet 126 is dimensioned to afford a pressure in the treating chamber 16 which is lower than atmospheric pressure whereby the flow of intake air through the inlet 126 prevents the liquid and abrasive suspension from escaping from the treating chamber through the inlet 126.

The ventilating system described above generally affords peripheral air flow around the margins of the treating chamber 16. The peripheral air flow, in turn, affords effective exhaust of any air borne abrasive or air borne liquid containing the abrasive without effecting, or in any way impeding, the direction or velocity of the emulsion projected from the nozzle 50 into contact with the work to be polished. Furthermore, the peripheral air flow assists in keeping the observation window 38 relatively clean.

Leg operated control levers 150 and 152 (shown in FIGURE 2) respectively operate the window and light washers 154 (shown in FIGURE 3), and the nozzle 50.

The arrangement of the opening on an inclined plane, as previously described, affords access to the treating chamber in two perpendicular planes, namely, in horizontal and vertical planes. The opening arrangement allows the operator of the polishing apparatus to insert and remove the work vertically to and from the treating chamber, and when the work is positioned in the treating chamber, the front edge thereof is low enough so the operator can easily manipulate the work as desired.

Though the hood 22 can be arranged to open in several ways, the hood arrangement as previously described is preferable to any other sliding or hinged arrangement because it affords the advantages of ease in moving, spacesaving in that the hood moves upwardly and utilizes the upward space rather than the lateral, forward or rearward space, and the hood in the open position is generally out of the vicinity of the opening so that it will not interfere with loading of the work in the treating chamber.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a polishing apparatus of the type in which a liquid containing suspended abrasive is projected into contact with work to be polished, the combination of a housing forming a work treating chamber and having an opening in an inclined plane, tracks on said housing extending in generally parallel relation to the inclined plane, a hood, rollers carried on said hood and engaged with said tracks to afford sliding movement of said hood between covering and uncovering positions relative to said opening, a drip pan disposed on said housing to receive liquid drippings from said hood when said hood is in said uncovering position, and a counterweight connected to said hood to afford retention of said hood in any selected position.

2. A polishing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including an air inlet disposed between said hood and said tracks of said housing and extending the length of said tracks.

3. In a polishing apparatus of the type in which a carrier liquid containing suspended abrasive is projected into contact with work to be polished, the combination of a housing forming a work treating chamber and having an opening in a rearwardly and upwardly inclined plane, said housing having a hood portion constituting a closure for said opening, means for guiding the hood portion for movement substantially parallel to said plane between a closed position of use and a retracted position, a work support in said housing in a position in which a major portion of its area is exposed in the retracted position of said hood to receive work lowered onto such support, and means for controlling the position of said hood.

4. Polishing apparatus according to claim 3 in which said work support comprises a turntable having bearing means upon which it is mounted for rotation.

5. Polishing apparatus according to claim 4 in which said housing includes a lateral chamber communicating with the interior of the housing and having driving means for indexing said turntable.

6. Polishing apparatus according to claim 3 in which said housing includes a sump beneath the work support and centrally including a concave well for the collection of liquid and suspended abrasive, said housing including side, front and rear wall portions converging toward said well, and a pump for circulating the carrier liquid and suspended abrasive and having a screened inlet in said well and an outlet for returning carrier liquid and abrasive to said sump.

7. Polishing apparatus according to claim 3 in which said housing is provided with a pan extending upwardly and rearwardly behind the work support and beneath the path of movement of said hood toward its retracted position, said pan being adapted to collect liquid dripping from said hood and return said liquid by gravity toward the work support in said housing.

8. Polishing apparatus according to claim 3 in which the hood portion has at least one glazed inspection opening, and means for circulating air through said housing including a circulating fan, the housing having air inlet and outlet ports and a baffie for an outlet port, the air inlet area being less than the air outlet area whereby to maintain partial vacuum in said housing.

9. Polishing apparatus according to claim 8 in which the housing has a rear wall which is relatively high as compared with the front portion of the housing below the hood, the said outlet for air circulation and the said baffie being at the rear wall of the housing.

10. Polishing apparatus according to claim 3 in which the housing is provided with substantially parallel guideways along the margins of said opening, the hood having rollers movable along the guideways, a drip pan extending upwardly and rearwardly between the guideways and be- 5 neath the path of movement of the hood, pulleys mounted on an upper portion of the pan, cables trained over said pulleys and connected with said hood, and a counterweight for which said housing provides a chamber at the rear of the housing and with which counterweight said 10 cables are connected to counterbalance said hood.

LESTER M.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Webb 51-15 Parker et al. 5115 X Gladfelter 51-15 Gladfelter et al. 518 Hamacher 5112 X Jewett 5112 X Blackman et a1 5112 X SWINGLE, Primary Examiner. 

3. IN A POLISHING APPARATUS FOR THE TYPE IN WHICH A CARRIER LIQUID CONTAINING SUSPENDED ABRASIVE IS PROJECTED INTO CONTACT WITH WORK TO BE POLISHED, THE COMBINATION OF A HOUSING FORMING A WORK TREATING CHAMBER AND HAVING AN OPENING IN A REARWARDLY AND UPWARDLY INCLINED PLANE, SAID HOUSING HAVING A HOOD PORTION CONSTITUTING A CLOSURE FOR SAID OPENING, MEANS FOR GUIDING THE HOOD PORTION FOR MOVEMENT SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLATE BETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION OF USE AND A RETRACTED POSITION, A WORK SUPPORT IN SAID HOUSING IN A POSITION IN WHICH A MAJOR PORTION OF ITS AREA IS EXPOSED IN THE RETRACTED POSITION OF SAID HOOD TO RECEIVE WORK LOWERED ONTO SUCH SUPPORT, AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITION OF SAID HOOD. 